Just when you thought you were getting the hang of verbs, let me throw a small spanner in the works and introduce something called a participle.

A participle is a word that is partly a verb and partly an adjective.

When used as a verb – there are 2 kinds of participles in English:

Present participle – ends in –ing and demonstrates an action as ongoing or incomplete, e.g.

We met a man walking to the shops.

Past participle – ends in –ed or –d for regular verbs, or with –t or –en, and demonstrates an action that has been completed, e.g.

Driven by rain, we sought shelter under a tree

Laughed at by his friends, he left the room

When used as an adjective:

the present participle has an active meaning, e.g.

the barking dog

a moving car

the past participle has a passive meaning, e.g.

a burnt tree

a painted door

So, maybe you weren’t aware that when you use a word ending in –ing, that you’re actually using a ‘present participle’? Likewise, when you use a word ending in –ed, you’re actually using a ‘past participle’.

You are now!

That’s it for verbs, next up I’ll be looking at adjectives and adverbs. Look out for another quick quiz.

If you’ve missed any of the previous parts of Grammar – Love it or Loathe it, select from the list below: